The present invention relates generally to wireless computer networking techniques. In particular, the invention provides for protecting local area networks with wireless extensions from unauthorized or harmful wireless activity. More particularly, methods and systems are provided for scheduling functions on sensor devices that are used for monitoring of wireless activity in such networks. These techniques can be applied to many computer networking environments, e.g. environments based upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards (WiFi), Ultra Wide Band (UWB), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), Bluetooth, and others.
Computer systems have proliferated from academic and specialized science applications to day-to-day business, commerce, information distribution and home applications. Such systems can include personal computers (PCs) to large mainframe and server class computers. Powerful mainframe and server class computers run specialized applications for banks, small and large companies, e-commerce vendors, and governments. Personal computers can be found in many offices, homes, and even local coffee shops.
The computer systems located within a specific local geographic area (e.g. an office, building floor, building, home, or any other defined geographic region (indoor and/or outdoor) are typically interconnected using a Local Area Network (LAN)(e.g. the Ethernet). The LANs, in turn, can be interconnected with each other using a Wide Area Network (WAN)(e.g. the Internet). A conventional LAN can be deployed using an Ethernet-based infrastructure comprising cables, hubs switches, and other elements.
Connection ports (e.g. Ethernet ports) can be used to couple multiple computer systems to the LAN. For example, a user can connect to the LAN by physically attaching a computing device (e.g. a laptop, desktop, or handheld computer) to one of the connection ports using physical wires or cables. Other types of computer systems, such as database computers, server computers, routers, and Internet gateways, can be connected to the LAN in a similar manner. Once physically connected to the LAN, a variety of services can be accessed (e.g. file transfer, remote login, email, WWW, database access, and voice over IP).
Using recent (and increasingly popular) wireless technologies, users can now be wirelessly connected to the computer network. Thus, wireless communication can provide wireless access to a LAN in the office, home, public hot-spot, and other geographical locations. The IEEE 802.11 family of standards (WiFi) is a common standard for such wireless communication. In WiFi, the 802.11b standard provides for wireless connectivity at speeds up to 11 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency spectrum; the 802.11g standard provides for even faster connectivity at about 54 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency spectrum; and the 802.11a standard provides for wireless connectivity at speeds up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz radio frequency spectrum.
Advantageously, WiFi can facilitate a quick and effective way of providing a wireless extension to an existing LAN. To provide this wireless extension, one or more WiFi access points (APs) can connect to the connection ports either directly or through intermediate equipment, such as WiFi switch. After an AP is connected to a connection port, a user can access the LAN using a device (called a station) equipped with WiFi radio. The station can wirelessly communicate with the AP.
In the past, security of the computer network has focused on controlling access to the physical space where the LAN connection ports are located. The application of wireless communication to computer networking can introduce additional security exposure. Specifically, the radio waves that are integral to wireless communication often cannot be contained in the physical space bounded by physical structures, such as the walls of a building.
Hence, wireless signals often “spill” outside the area of interest. Because of this spillage, unauthorized users, who could be using their stations in a nearby street, parking lot, or building, could wirelessly connect to the AP and thus gain access to the LAN. Consequently, providing conventional security by controlling physical access to the connection ports of the LAN would be inadequate.
To prevent unauthorized access to the LAN over WiFi, the AP can employ certain techniques. For example, in accordance with 802.11, a user is currently requested to carry out an authentication handshake with the AP (or a WiFi switch that resides between the AP and the existing LAN) before being able to connect to the LAN. Examples of such handshake are Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) based shared key authentication, 802.1x based port access control, and 802.11i based authentication. The AP can provide additional security measures such as encryption and firewalls.
Despite these measures, security risks still exist. For example, an unauthorized AP may connect to the LAN and then, in turn, allow unauthorized users to connect to the LAN. These unauthorized users can thereby access proprietary/trade secret information on computer systems connected to the LAN without the knowledge of the owner of the LAN. Notably, even if the owner of the LAN enforces no WiFi policy (i.e. no wireless extension of the LAN allowed at all), the threat of unauthorized APs still exists. Moreover, even if an unauthorized AP is not LAN-connected, it may still pose a security threat. Specifically, authorized clients in communication with the unauthorized AP may be unwittingly providing proprietary/trade secret information to the unauthorized AP. Additional security threats include, but not limited to, unauthorized ad-hoc wireless connections and denial of service (DOS) attacks. It is also often necessary to be able to protect LAN from multiple occurrences of security breaches. Notably, it is also often required to be able to detect new occurrences of breaches while attempting to contain the currently detected security breaches. In one embodiment, the sensor and access point functionality can be provided in a single wireless device. Then, it may be required to be able to perform access point functionality while attempting to contain the security breaches.
Additionally, there is a need to protect LANs with wireless extensions from harmful wireless activity. For example, harmful wireless activity can degrade the performance of shared wireless link. The harmful activity can result from misconfigured devices, non-standard devices, unauthorized devices etc.
From the above, techniques for protecting local area networks with wireless extensions from unauthorized or harmful wireless activity are highly desired.